WCU women can't keep up with red-hot IUP

WEST CHESTER – Whether the WCU women can still contend for the PSAC East basketball crown will be determined in earnest over the next two months. But after a pair of weekend wipeouts at Hollinger Fieldhouse, it’s safe to say that the Golden Rams are not yet even remotely equipped to go toe-to-toe with the upper echelon teams of the conference’s Western Division.

Saturday’s 12-point setback to California (Pa.) wasn’t encouraging, but Sunday’s 94-65 debacle to Indiana (Pa.) was a demoralizing dose of reality. And let’s not forget that these two early PSAC crossover setbacks are sure to make WCU’s aspirations for a division title all the more challenging.

“I’m going to put the blame on one person, and that’s me because I have to put them in a position to win and I did not today,” West Chester head coach Deirdre Kane said. “Maybe against teams of that caliber, we can’t play our style of play.

“Last year nobody blew us out like that.”

The big difference was an epic first half run by the Crimson Hawks (2-0, 5-0), but the outcome was no fluke. Indiana connected on a nearly unfathomable 69 percent from three-point land, was dominant on the boards (plus-10) and limited Rams star Alexandra Lennon to a mere four points, zero in the second half.

“IUP just didn’t miss. They just knocked down everything,” said senior forward Ambreelinne Ortman, shaking her head.

“But as a team I feel we are strong. As a whole, we’ll be able to not let our confidence be completely devastated by this.”

Hanging in and trailing by just three late in the first half, WCU fell apart during a five-minute stretch, enabling IUP to reel off 20 straight points. It transformed a competitive battle into a 46-23 blowout-in-the-making. During the run, the bewildered Rams committed three turnovers and misfired on all six shots. In the meantime, the Hawks were going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

“It was some defensive breakdowns that gave them some easy looks,” Kane explained. “It added to their confidence and deflated us. It was just one of those runs where no time out or mass substitution seemed to make a difference.”

Even if you could magically erase the 20-0 rally, WCU was still outclassed throughout. Overall, Indiana buried 11 of 16 three-pointers and shot 55 percent from the floor while holding the Rams to 37 percent. It got so bad that Kane abandoned the mass substitution pattern first established in the preseason prior to the 2011-12 season.

“(That kind of three-point marksmanship) is unheard of even if you are just shooting around with no defense at all,” Kane acknowledged.

“It was the first time I ever went away from the whole unit (substitution pattern) since we put it in. I just felt like the pressure wasn’t getting us anywhere.”

One of the only bright spots for West Chester was the play of freshman Brittany Sicinski (Downingtown West), who moved into the starting lineup for the second half and flourished. But her elevation from the second unit underlines the squad’s current backcourt woes. Another freshman, Dallas Ely, is out with a concussion, and a host of upperclassmen have been unable to adequately fill the void.

“We knew what Brit could do heading in,” Kane said.

Sincinski scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the second half. Ortman added 15 points, and third freshman Jazzy Clark chipped in nine. But the biggest surprise was that Lennon -- a two-time All PSAC East selection -- made just two of seven shot attempts and did not get to the free throw line at all.

“We didn’t get her the ball enough but I also felt the physicality of their post players kind of neutralized her,” Kane said.

The Rams will have six days to recover from the disappointing weekend, but face mounting challenges. Up next: a home game against PSAC East foe Mansfield followed by a road trip to Slippery Rock and PSAC West favorite Edinboro.

“We just played the teams that were picked to finish third and fourth (in the PSAC West),” Kane said. “We still have to play the teams picked to finish first and second. But so does everybody else.”